PACES Patrick Joyce Award

Posted: January 15, 2019
Please consider applying for the PACES Patrick Joyce Award. The deadline for application submission is Friday, February 15, 2019.

The fund is named for Patrick Joyce who suddenly died when he was in college. He and his family members were later diagnosed with Long QT syndrome. His friends and family host a 5K fun run and generously donate part of the proceeds to support PACES research. The PACES executive board and research committee will fund up to 3 allied professional members with interest and dedication to research to attend Heart Rhythm Scientific Sessions ($1500 for each) in order to present their research and gain experience and knowledge for research development for PACES allied professionals.

Awards will be for PACES allied professional members. Priority will be given to those who have submitted an abstract to HRS regardless if abstract gets accepted and who do not have financial support to attend the sessions. Research on long QT syndrome and other sudden death conditions will be considered favorably. We will also accept applications from PACES allied professional members who have not submitted research to HRS but who have demonstrated a commitment to research either independently or collaboratively.

Please refer to the Patrick Joyce Award application for the most up to date information. Email Vicki Freedenberg at vfreeden@cnmc.org with questions or to submit your application.

Best wishes,

Vicki Freedenberg
PACES Exec Board AP Representative

Letter to Potential Collaborators

Posted: November 19, 2018
You may be aware that I have been coordinating a multi-center retrospective study on risk stratification for sudden death in children with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM).

We are now ready to take this to the next level and perform an ambispective (retro + pro) study to look at the same in a more rigorous fashion. We plan to collect data on a total of approximately 1500 children with HCM. Efforts are underway to apply for a grant to perform this study. The study has been approved by the PACES research committee.

I would greatly appreciate it if you could send me a letter of support and willingness to participate in this study. Please also mention the approximate number of children < 18 years old with HCM being followed at your institution.

Please click here for the PACES sample letter of support, make modifications as desired, and send back to me on letter-head paper.

Please write to me in person (balajis@ohsu.edu) if you have any comments or questions.

PACES Research Patrick Joyce Allied Professional Award

Posted: November 28, 2017

Background:

The fund is named for Patrick Joyce who suddenly died when he was in college. He and his family members were later diagnosed with Long QT syndrome. His friends and family host a 5K fun run and generously donate part of the proceeds to support PACES research. The PACES executive board and research committee will fund up to 3 allied professional members with interest and dedication to research to attend Heart Rhythm Scientific Sessions ($1500 for each) in order to present their research and gain experience and knowledge for research development for PACES allied professionals.

Eligibility:

Awards will be for PACES allied professional members. Priority will be given to those who have submitted an abstract to HRS regardless if abstract gets accepted and who do not have financial support to attend the sessions. Research on long QT syndrome and other sudden death conditions will be considered favorably. We will accept applications from PACES allied professional members who have not submitted research to HRS but who have demonstrated a commitment to research either independently or collaboratively.

Award Periods and Deadlines:

To apply for funding, please email a PDF copy of your research abstract and a personal statement. The personal statement must include your role in the submitted research and your anticipated learning objectives from attending the Heart Rhythm Scientific sessions. If you did not submit a research abstract to HRS, please discuss your current research projects and how you are involved in that research in your personal statement. The personal statement should be no more than one typewritten page, single spacing with font not smaller than Times New Roman 12 pt or Arial 11.

INTRODUCTION

The Paul C. Gillette (PCG) Pediatric and Congenital Electrophysiology Society (PACES) Research Grant is sponsored by the family of Paul C. Gillette to develop and sustain clinical and translational research directed at children and adults with congenital and acquired pediatric electrophysiology diseases.

Paul C Gillette (1942 – 2013) was a founding father of pediatric electrophysiology. In 2013, after an exemplary career of innovation and dedication, he passed away, just a few months after being selected for the inaugural PACES Lifetime Achievement award. His family wanted to honor his contribution to the field of pediatric electrophysiology, and, in the spirit of his lifetime of mentorship, established this grant.

THE GRANT

A single applicant may submit one application per grant cycle as the study Principal Investigator (PI). E-mail the full application package, including appendices, as a single PDF file to VP of Research (currently Maully Shah at shahm@email.chop.edu)

Applicant:

PACES members, trainee members (including post-doctoral and clinical fellows in training), allied health professionals and associate members are eligible to apply.

Physicians and Scientists must be early- or mid-career. Early- and mid-career for physicians and scientists is defined as the first 10 years (ending June 30th of the decision year) of clinical and/or research career, after completion of an electrophysiology fellowship or PhD.

Allied health professional applicants at any stage in their clinical carrier

Former PCG award recipients are ineligible

Applicants currently receiving external funding >$50,000 for existing research projects are ineligible with the following exceptions:

Applicants who are currently on a training grant remain eligible (e.g. NIH-“K-series”, NIH-T32, AHA career development grants or similar). Projects must be distinct from the Specific Aims of the training grant and the budget justification should explicitly state that the costs are not overlapping.

Funds received under the NIH loan repayment program should not be assessed in $50,000 criteria.

Any questions of eligibility should be addressed in writing to the PACES VP of Research prior to the submission deadline. The VP of Research will make final determinations of eligibility.

Award and Timelines

The total award is up to $10,000 US dollars total, to be spent within two years

The application deadline is March 30, 2018. The awardee will be announced at the annual PACES meeting during the Heart Rhythm Society’s Annual Scientific Sessions in May of the application year. As the announcement will not be made until the Scientific Sessions, and preparations to attend (including room reservations require some lead time, applicants should make their plans on attendance independently of the competition results. Awardee does not need to be at the PACES meeting to be the successful recipient award.

Awardee responsibilities include:

Conceptualization and implementation of carefully conceived and ethically sound research

Yearly submission of a Progress Report to the PACES Research Committee or presentation at PACES Annual Research meeting.

Presentation of findings at the PACES annual meeting upon completion of the project

Acknowledgement of the PCG award from the PACES society in all publications, abstracts and presentations

Research Mentor

Investigators are required to identify a primary research Mentor. This Mentor does not need to be a member of PACES but must be a senior investigator with expertise in the proposed field of research and have a track record of investigation, publication and mentoring. An applicant may utilize the expertise of a senior investigator from the PACES membership to serve as a primary mentor, if a mentor cannot be identified from the applicant’s own institution. The primary mentor is required to provide a letter of support that should include the mentoring plan. This letter and plan will carry significant weight in the review process.

Scoring and review criteria

Significance: Does the study address an important problem that currently is incompletely understood or has no currently effective therapy?

Approach: Is the study design well-conceived? Is it likely that the proposed experiments can be completed by the applicant? Have statistical considerations been addressed appropriately?

Innovation: Does the project develop or use novel concepts, approaches, methods, tools or technologies?

Investigators: Are the investigators appropriately trained and well suited to carry out this work?

Environment: Does the scientific environment contribute to the probability of success?

Ethical considerations: Reviewers will assess how well ethical considerations have been addressed with respect to research risks, the scientifically appropriate inclusion of women, minorities, and children, and/or ethical use of animal models.

Career Development: Because this award is intended for early- and mid-career applicants, the review committee may take into account the likely impact of the award on the career trajectory of awardees, including the projected uses of funds in the budget and budget justification.

PACES Research committee members will review all eligible applications. Applicants and co- investigators must not discuss their application with reviewers. Any questions or concerns must be directed to the VP of Research. Breach of confidentiality or significant concerns may render an application ineligible. All applications reviewed by the committee will receive feedback from the committee.

APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS

How to Apply

The application process for this funding opportunity consists of: (A) Face page; (B) Resubmission summary of changes (if applicable); (C) Research plan; (D) Budget and 3
justification; (E) Appendix of Supplemental documents. The outlined number of pages must not be exceeded.

Include a discussion of ethical considerations in research design. Funded projects will require demonstration of institutional review board (IRB) and/ or animal studies approval prior to disbursement of funds. Human and animal welfare considerations should be elaborated briefly, however.

Figures and Tables (1 page)

References (1 page)

C. Budget and Budget Justification (1 page)
A detailed budget including justification must be included with the application. The maximum award is for 10,000 USD based on the proposed budget. Institutional facilities and administration (or other “indirect costs”) will not be supported. All expenses associated with conducting the project are eligible including salary support, equipment and expendables.

Salary support must be clearly for the purposes of conducting the study (e.g. study coordinator) and cannot be used for salary support for a physician or trainee. A maximum amount of 1,000 USD will be allowed for travel to a scientific meeting and preparation of material for such a meeting, as it is expected that the recipient’s home institution would support these expenses as well. The proposed budget may be adjusted by the review committee. Budgetary overlap with existing and applied for funding must be declared explicitly.

D. Supporting Documents

Mentor letter.

Biographical Sketches. NIH-style Biographical sketch must be submitted for the applicant and mentor.

Additional letters of support and/or collaboration (optional)

IRB approval (prior to release of funds) or status update. While not required at time of application, IRB and/or animal welfare regulatory steps must be completed prior to receiving awardee funds.

RESUBMISSION:

Proposals that are not selected for funding may be resubmitted in future years, with or without revisions, but all proposals will be considered as novel submissions in each funding cycle.

Posted: November 28, 2017
To encourage the next generation of researchers in SADS conditions, the Sudden Arrhythmia Death Syndromes (SADS) Foundation is announcing the Ninth Annual SADS Foundation Courts K. Cleveland Jr. Young Investigator Awards in Cardiac Channelopathy Research. As in past years, there will be a BASIC SCIENCE award and a TRANSLATIONAL/CLINICAL SCIENCE award given. Both awards will be administered by the Pediatric and Congenital EP Society (PACES), and will be presented at the annual PACES evening meeting at the 2018 Heart Rhythm Society Scientific Sessions.

Overview:

Annual SADS Foundation Courts K. Cleveland Jr. Young Investigator Awards in Cardiac Channelopathy Research will recognize two outstanding, original academic works in the field of cardiac channelopathies (BASIC SCIENCE category and TRANSLATIONAL/CLINICAL SCIENCE category), which has not been published or presented in a national/international meeting prior to the Heart Rhythm Society (HRS) annual meeting held in May 2018.

Specific Criteria:

The first author candidate should be an undergraduate student, medical student, graduate student, resident, fellow, postdoctoral fellow or junior investigator within his/her first three years of faculty appointment. However, there are no minimum or maximum age criteria. Training dates must be documented on the application.

Submission of a full length manuscript addressing any area in the field of Cardiac Channelopathy Research is required. The applicant should designate which YIA category, Basic Science or Translational/Clinical, that he/she wishes to be considered. The submitted manuscript can be pre-submission, submitted, in press, or previously published. However, if previously published (online or in print), the published date MUST be after last year’s HRS meeting. The manuscript may be associated with an abstract submitted to the 2016 HRS meeting, but such submission is not required. Submission for the award should be in a single PDF file, inclusive of all figures.

Submission DEADLINE is March 30, 2018

Award:

$500 to the recipient

$1,250 to the recipient’s mentor or host institution to offset the cost of attending the annual HRS meeting

Recognition with a SADS Foundation YIA plaque

Presentation of the award at the annual PACES meeting on Wednesday, May 9, 2018

HRS Committee Positions

Posted: November 7, 2017
To all Physicians & Allied Professionals,

I hope that everyone is enjoying the Autumn season. As many of you are well aware, PACES and HRS continue to work in a collaborative manner along a number of a venues including scientific documents, advocacy, international growth, and partnering in communities. One way for PACES members to get involved is by joining a community. This message has been well voiced by our current HRS President, George Van Hare MD. The list of communities available to join and expand your network within HRS is well described on the HRS website. (HRS Communities of Practice – “Connect, Network, and Engage”). A Community of Practice is a group of Heart Rhythm Society members who come together to engage, network, and share knowledge and best practices with colleagues in similar areas of practice or who have common professional interests through a variety of platforms. I would encourage you to look at that website.

A second way to get involved is by joining one of the current HRS Committees. For those of you who are unaware of all the active committees within HRS I have listed them below. A more detailed description of all the committees can be found on the HRS Website. Over the last few years, we have been successful in having 1-2 members on nearly every HRS Committee. The term on most of the committees is 2-3 years. It is not every year that an opportunity to serve on a committee is available. PACES has been working closely with HRS leadership to identify individuals who we think would add value to the volunteer committees within HRS. Individuals who would like to volunteer on one of the committees as a contributor should have expertise on the subject and demonstrate a strong desire and willingness to serve the society. Volunteer appointments are highly valued within HRS and are based primarily on expertise, length of service within HRS, willingness to commit the time needed, and creating the correct succession plan. Terms are generally staggered to maintain the targeted level of expertise and diversity. Again, not every committee has an opening and reappointments may also be given so as to bring individuals into contact with new members and promote potential future leaders for HRS. The goal of our collaboration and understanding with HRS is that the PACES leadership would put forth 2-3 names to the current HRS President for a possible pediatric committee nomination if a position is available.

If you are interested in volunteering to be on an HRS Committee please reply to me by November 30, 2017 with a brief description as to which committee you would like to be considered for and your experience as it relates to that particular area of interest. Most committees have a junior member on them who is assigned to a senior mentor. As such, junior members should also consider whether this is something they would like to pursue. In addition, almost every committee has an allied professional member.

If you have more specific questions please feel free to reach out to me. Please have all responses back to the PACES EC by November 30, 2017.

Discontinuation of the Abbott Microny Pacemaker

Posted: October 25, 2017
Dear Fellow PACES EP Colleagues,

It has been recently announced that Abbott (previously St Jude) was forced to discontinue production of the Microny Pacemaker due to the obsolescence of components required to manufacturer more devices. For years this device has been the smallest pacemaker on the market at 5.9 cc, and has been an essential option for the smallest of children who require pacing, particularly premature infants, as the next smallest device is 30% larger than the Microny.

There are currently approximately 100 devices in the United States, with expiration dates between now and the spring of 2019 (18 months, or 67 per year on an annualized basis). There is no equivalent device anticipated in the near future. Based on a sampling of usage in North America over the last ten years, approximately 40 devices per year were implanted in infants under 10 days of age, 50 in those under a month, and 75 in those under three months. The vast majority of these infants were small for gestational age or premature, most with weights below 4.5 kg, many far below. Due to the impact of this issue on pediatric electrophysiologists, the PACES executive felt it was important to be proactive. The current usage data would suggest that if devices are only used in children weighing < 4.5 kg the current inventory would allow enough devices for our premature infants and the current supply should get us close to the time of a potentially new device. PACES is working with Abbott to be certain that the devices with the shortest expiration dates are implanted first. We would encourage all pediatric electrophysiologists to use the devices they think are most appropriate. If there is equal justification between a Microny and an alternative device, then a non-Microny device should be considered so as to prolong the inventory of remaining devices.

Given the fact that implantation of such devices is often performed in conjunction with a pediatric cardiac surgeon this information is being shared with surgeons via the Congenital Heart Surgeons’ Society. In addition, we would encourage all pediatric electrophysiologists to work with their fetal teams and Abbott if they are aware of an impending delivery of a neonate with AV block. I want to personally thank Beth Stephenson, Anne Dubin, and Yaniv Bar-Cohen who have been instrumental in facilitating discussions with Abbott and coming up with some structured recommendations for PACES regarding the discontinuation of the Microny pacemaker. We hope that everyone will work together so that the current remaining devices are used for the most appropriate candidates until a newer device becomes available. If you have specific questions please feel free to reach out to me.

PJRT Reviews

Posted: October 10, 2017
Dear Fellow PACES Colleagues,

I hope that everyone is doing well and enjoying the autumn season. Attached you will find a power point presentation from the education committee summarizing eight recently published electrophysiology articles (PJRT: Pediatric EP Journal Review by Trainees).

I want to personally thank Andy Blaufox and Scott Ceresnak for their continued efforts leading the journal review. I also want to extend a sincere thanks to Will Goodyer, Anica Bulic, Chalese Richardson, and Louis Rigos who reviewed and summarized the papers. If you have specific questions or thoughts on how to improve PJRT please email either Andy (ABlaufox@northwell.edu) or Scott (ceresnak@stanford.edu) directly.